Grangur

Nice Squier neck plate too!!

You'd have to use "dark tan" but it'd look a mess and you'd get dirty hands and have to re-do it all the time. Would I do it? No way.

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1488478091' post='3249332'] Seeing Hot Chocolate live. Bassist got a solo in No Doubt About It and the whole theatre shook. I was thirteen and I remember the moment vividly. I think I was already picking out bass in my head anyhow, and realising that I couldn't "get away with" trying to sing like Jim Morrison it just had to be bass. [b]Only took another two years to persuade my parents I should take up bass guitar[/b] [/quote] Man, they gave in quick. Mine took 40+ years. Dad was dead and Mum admitted to it on her death bed that they could have helped me a bit, but didn't see a future in it.

Always found the bass lines jumped out at me. Loved Cockney Rebel, but this one has always sounded great to me. [media]http://youtu.be/DohRa9lsx0Q[/media] Man, where can I get some flares like his!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1488451681' post='3249008'] As topic titles go, there are few more open to misinterpretation than this one ... [/quote] I did that. I was wondering why this wasn't in "Off topic"

Yes, develop a skill for both eye balls to work independent of one another. Its helps tremendously.

Get your license plate stamped into it. What else do you do with a license plate blank?. It's for car license plates, if you're an American. If you're a Brit, you stick it on the wall, or donate it to the Herts Bass Bash Raffle It's a different world isn't it? Here in the UK it's yellow with black writing in the correct size and font. Mind you, that can all change now were out of Europe! I KNEW there must be an advantage to leaving. I just KNEW it!! I've been struggling all this time.

[quote name='LowMoFo' timestamp='1488418932' post='3248838'] Hey guys, I've watched a few Crimson Guitars vids on YouTube, very interesting, although I hadn't yet stumbled across this particular series, so thanks very much! I've found a few spots on it where curves need a little smoothing here and there (in addition to wanting to 'teardrop' the plectrum-profiled horns), and I must confess to spending quite some time 'molesting' the body, eyes shut, neck in place & body only. Gotta say I can kinda feel where it feels right, and where I want to tweak. So I was looking at wet&dry earlier, and am wondering about grades. What do you guys recommend? Kinda thinking 320, 600 & 1200? Gents, thanks for the advice, incl regarding the gimmick tail-off! [/quote] Yes, that's the kind of thing. Closing your eyes does help. It might sound a bit kinky though, to those who've not been there and done it. With respect to glasspaper. I use 80 grit for shaping then down to 250 and anything I can get my hands on that's finer to finish. At the moment I've got some nice 2500 grit. As Norris says, I'd steer clear of wet & dry. It's OK to use it dry, but wet is really for finishing a painted surface.

Hey, welcome to BC. Good luck in looking for the bass. That can be good fun. IMHO you can get some great basses for not a lot of dosh, if you're prepared to not have "F..." on the headstock. Westfield do some good instruments. I was tempted to go for this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272569052652?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Not the maple neck you're after though. Maybe you could find a Westone Thunder or something from the 70s?

They always have some damaged stuff going and most of the time it's things like "headstock broken off". So it's not something your average "fettler" can fix. But take a look at this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oregon-6-String-Bass-Guitar-by-Gear4music-Natural-DAMAGED-RRP-279-00/351993431981?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41434%26meid%3Dfe695cb17de54c9285a03939145496ed%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D351992833928 or this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epiphone-Tobias-Deluxe-IV-Toby-Bass-Guitar-Trans-Black-DAMAGED-RRP-182-95-/351970590866?hash=item51f3150092:g:ZGYAAOSwA3dYkJeu Not much damage if you want a bass to have a mess about with.

[quote name='LowMoFo' timestamp='1488386674' post='3248523'] Hi Grangur, I found the pickups in question, they were indeed Bartolinis, but have now been discontinued. As have their replacements. *Seethe* The hunt continues... [/quote] Yes. That's a shame. You could try Kent Armstrong. http://www.armstrongpickups.co.uk/bass-pickups/ Contact them and talk about the sound you want. I think I've heard about them doing specials, but not sure. Bill Lawrence is also open to making hand-wound specials, I think, but he's in the USA.

Looking good. I like the body shape as it is. I wouldn't change the over all shape. What I would spend time on is small refinements. Spend a lot of time just holding the body. Become familiar with it. Rub your hands all over it and use fine glasspaper to get it really, really smooth. Sand off and rough edges and knobbly bits. Get it so it feels seriously smooth and organic. You might also like to watch the series done by Crimson Guitars where they take a kit and make it great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzvQFWwO9w&list=PLp6z5fUMeeAZngXaTKxTKgHvM_pUxeH2z

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1488313024' post='3247861'] [color=#6D220D][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The page you requested cannot be displayed at the moment. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may be broken or expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.[/font][/color] Awww! [/quote] Ditto

Have you tried speaking to the other acts from that night? After all, you're not the only act in that same boat. If you need to take action you could possibly share the legal costs.

Zoom B3 and Korg TM-40

I'm envious, in a nice way.

Looks like a plan. Good luck. I hope it all takes off well for you.

I've got a blue Corvette. It's more tatty than the red Warwick in the OP. Mine even has Chinese writing on the back of the body. I look on it as genuine "roadwear". All I've done is smooth over the catches in any dings with some fine glasspaper, to make it comfortable and enjoy playing a great bass. If the chip near the bridge bothers you, then get a red felt too pen and colour it in. I wouldn't do anything else if it were mine.

I wish you well, but if the packaging was all intact and no sign of impact, are we sure it left home in good condition?

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1488132617' post='3246164'] I bought my Squier VM P5 because I wanted a traditionally styled P bass but I needed a 5 string (haven't played a 4 string for the best part of 20 years now). There's not a lot of choice out there in the way of 5 string precisions and the Fender equivalent was over £1200 more which I didn't feel I could really justify at the time. Fortunately for me I absolutely love it. Genuinely the most comfortable neck I've ever played (and I've owned some very expensive basses over the years and played a fair few more). I have made some modifications to the electronics and I'd like to upgrade the pickup at some point but for feel and playability it's excellent. [/quote] If only they didn't have that awful 4+1 headstock!

I just saw a Squier Gary Jarman Signature Bass on Evilbay for a little over £300 with a good spec and high mass bridge. Looks good to me. That said; the body looks big and chunky. http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/squier-gary-jarman-signature-bass.ir?gclid=CJPf5pWYrtICFQqdGwodkrcPQg

Just a thought: if a punter was in the audience, they could have recorded you and posted it on YouTube and there's not much you can do. I guess the difference here is the promoter wants to take money for the bootleg recordings. The other difference is, course, he's recorded the whole gig.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1488045914' post='3245405'] Microfibre cloths. [/quote]... and a paintbrush to get into the fiddly bits.

Regrettably I think the first assumption you need to make when packing anything is; assume it will be dropped as a direct hit on it's most vulnerable side/corner/edge... more than once. All that said; good luck in getting it fixed. PS - I know packing wasn't in the OP's area of control. 2nd rule - read the small print. There's no point in paying the insurance cover against risk of damage, if the small print says "all instruments must be in a flight-case", and you didn't pack it in a flight case.